A 32-year-old professional rugby player, Carl Rimmer has been forced to retire from the sport after suffering a sudden stroke while training.
He recently announced his decision to quit the sport after being with Exeter Chiefs Rugby club and featuring in more than a 100 games.
Speaking about the day he suffered stroke, he said, “It was all a bit weird.”
Rimmer further explained, “Nobody knew what had happened, I didn’t really know, I was fully conscious, and by the time I got to hospital and someone diagnosed it and told me what was wrong, the best part of me thought ‘it can’t be, it is impossible, I am 30 years old, there is no way that’s happened’, and it turns out it was related to trauma and not to anything else.”
“The club were brilliant with me and let me have some good time off to make sure everything healed as it should. Apart from the rugby side of things, I have been pretty much fine since February, so that has been brilliant.
“I was under the impression from medical guidance that there was a chance that I could return to playing, but at the same time the percentage was only 50-50, but unfortunately, three months later, when they rescanned everything, the injury itself had not healed properly, which just meant the risks of returning to play a contact sport were too great, and I was advised medically to retire, which wasn’t great news to hear at the time.”
His decision to quit rugby was based on medical advice from his doctors .
Carl Rimmer joined Exeter Chiefs Rugby Club from his former club Cornish Pirates in 2012.